Il & Fs Sets Up Spv For Noida Bridge Project

Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) is at an advanced stage of tying up overseas funding for the various projects that it is involved in. IL&FS is working at raising foreign funds for the Delhi Noida bridge project, the Panvel By pass project and Tirupur Area Development project.

According to the directors report of IL&FS, a special purpose vehicle Noida Toll Bridge Company Ltd (NTBL) has been formed domiciling the project. The draft concession and other contractual documents have been reviewed by the World Bank and Asian Development as conditions precedent for the funding of the project. The contractual documentation is presently pending approval of the government of Uttar Pradesh.

The Panvel By Pass project framework has been restructured to specify the right to collect toll for a fixed period of 30 years. The scope of the project has also been extended to include the link road for the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. In addition to the foregoing, this project has been positioned by the company as one of the first projects eligible for funding from the World Bank Line of Credit. The project has been delayed due to the change in the finalisation of certain project parameters.

For the Tirupur area development project, IL&FS has borrowed US $ 25 million from the US capital market guaranteed by the US Agency for International development under the housing guarantee programme.

The draw down has been completed at the end of the year under review. The available funds have been kept in an escrow account pending disbursement to the project.

According to the IL&FS annual report, Orix corporation, Japan, and IL&FS have jointly undertaken transactions in the area of cross border financing, and efforts have been stepped up to ensure a steady deal flow in the future.

IL&FA has been appointed by the Gujarat government to examine the possibility of commercialisation of specific road segments in the state. After a preliminary assessment undertaken by the company, the Gujarat government has agreed to initially focus on the Vadodara Halol segment.

In this regard, the detailed study has been completed and in principle approval has been received from the Gujarat government to finalise the scope of work. The tender for the project is expected to be issued soon and steps have been taken by ILFS and the Gujarat government to promote a special purpose vehicle for domiciling the project.

IL&FS has also adopted the environmental & Social Report (ESR) which integrates environmental and social aspects into the project cycle, commencing from project identification to the end of the concession period.

Project development in four infrastructure project Delhi Noida bridge, Tirupur Area Development, Vadodara - Halol road and Ahmedabad Mehsana Road have adopted the ESR.